Machine for shredding and disintegrating vegetable stalks



Sept. 25, 1951 HAAPALA 2,569,307

MACHINE FOR SHREDDING AND DISINTEGRATING I VEGETABLE STALKS I Filed Feb. 14, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR. ZEV/ Hag/244,4

fse t jzs, 1951 HAAPALA V 4 2,569,307 E MACHINE FOR SHREDDING AND DISINTEGRATING j w VEGETABLE STALKS Filed Feb. 14, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 25, 1951 PATENT OFFICE.

MACHINE FOR SHREDDING AND'DISINTE- GRATING VEGETABLE STALKS LeviHaapala, Dassel, assignor to VlVhiteley H p and Caine, Minneapolis, Minn., a partnership Application February 14. 1949, Serial No. 76,378

5 Claims.

My invention relates to a machine for shredding and disintegrating vegetable stalks, such as cornstalks. It'is an improvement of my application for device for shredding and disintegrating vegetable stalks, Serial No. 60,437, filed November 17, 1948.

In that application it is pointed out that a pest known as the European corn borer has been introduceii into the United States. For a time little attention was paid to it. Now, however, the pest has becbme quite widely distributed and seriously threatens the annual corn crop. The pest reproduces itself in a well-known manner. The moth lays eggs on or in the ccrnstalk. The larvae eats the material of the cornstalk and finally forms a cocoon-likcnesting for the winter in the pith ofi the cornstalk. When spring and warm weather come the pupa comes out as a moth or butterfly and lays eggs upon the green stalks. If the 55am and stump where the corn borer nest exists-isibeaten to pieces to expose the-larvae or pupa weather conditions, they will die.

Further, disintegrating the vegetable stalks, particularly eornstalks, is not only of importance in controlling the corn borer pest, but by disintegrating the stalks the disintegrated mass wil be'jmuch more readily plowed under and will rot and disintegrate in the humus, so important in soil conservation, far more effectively than if the stalks are plowed under whole.

In the above noted former application I have shown mechanisms for disintegrating cornstalks including a head and a shaft carrying free swinging beater bars, the shaft being connected to a source of power, together with a funnel-like member for gathering the stalks together so as to be more efiectively engaged by the beater bars.

Ithas been found that it is absolutely necessary to center the shaft carrying the beater bars directlyover the row of corns'talks or other vegetable stalks and stalks to be disintegrated. Further, that as the beatersare rotated across the opening to the throat of the stalk collector, some of these stalks may be lifted by heaters and if they are green and wet or damp and limp, they may not be completely disintegrated.

I have discovered that by positioning a knifelike member at theedge and for a short distance along the top of the throat on the side toward which the heaters move, the stalks will be literally chopped into pieces regardless of their being greenj-moist or otherwise limp.

' I have also discovered that to tighten the belt drive to operate thebeaters, the fixed centering of.;the= beater shafts above the rows must not be said knife-like member with its two paiiits integrally connected and the part that ei-Etends along the side held vertical and the part eicitending along the top at right angles thereo cept that the edge thereof will slope slightlyi f downwardly.

It is a further object of my invention te have the knife members removably connected throat so that it can be taken of! and sh timed, and for replacement. a

It is a further object of my invention to hold the knife-like member positioned alongija side and thetop of the throat with the edgegof the member in the plane of the edges of the throat so as to form a continuous cutting surface extending across the top and down one sidelof the throat so as to form a cutting surface having a 90 angle that cooperates with the beater bars to assure absolute severing of stalks driven against the cutting surface.

The full objects and advantages of my invention will appear in connection with the detailed description thereof given in the following specification and the novel features by which the aforesaid useful and advantageous results are obtained are particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawing illustrating an application of my invention in one of its forms:

. Fig. 1 is a rear end elevation of my stalk disintegrating apparatus with some parts broken away.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same being viewed in reverse direction from that of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal central sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2, showing the driving connection and relation of the parts.

Fig. 4' is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged face view of the pillow block supporting the main shaft.

-As illustrated, and having reference particularlyto Figs. 2 and 3, angle iron frame members Ill and Il form a transverse support for the operating parts of my device and are connectcd to gether by longitudinal plates l2, l3 and I4. A pair of vertical angle iron uprights i5 and I6 support respectively pillow blocks H and I8. The flanges l9 and of these pillow blocks are provided with elongated slot openings 2| and 22, Fig. 5, through which extend bolts 23 and 24. A drive shaft 25 has journaled support in the pillow blocks I'Fjdrfdi 8" '1 f This dr-i've shaft is provided with a universal joint 26 which connects it with a power shaft 21 that may run to any source of power, such as the power-take-off of a tractor fordrawing the ap-.

paratus over the ground.

Upon the shaft 25 is mounted a petty is. "This is a multiple pulley having-two sets of -groovesfiwhich may be V-grooves or hexagon-grooves-, ac-* cording to the type of belt which itxistdesired toemploy.

Two additional sets of pillow blocks 29 292 30, 30' are mounted on' the transverse bars H1 l8 are liftedgas can'be done-by releasing bo ts. 3 and 24 on each of them and sliding the blocks upward withzthe bolts relatively moved along the slots Z'i and '22, the sets of belts 34 and 35will be suitably tightened: without changing the center.- ing relation of shafts 3i and-3i with respect .to throats 3 2 ands32flz- ".The uprightswlt wand it: extend upwardly through. a shield Sit-for protecting againstimoving parts,=" and are provided with. an outwardly ex--. tending lip eirwhich faces inside the shielda cor.- refsponding' lip 82:011 the :upper flange-pf. pillow blocker--11 and-i8. Abelt' tighteningbolt..3.3.is threaded into an opening in the flange on the pillow block an'd has-its head. take against the flange of the frame members i i or 18'; so that when' the. bolt is turned it will lift the pillow block's'ii or it and the-desiredamount of-movement for producing the right" tightening of the beltcaneasily'beeftected. Uponushaftsfm'ii and-r35 are heads 38; These heads may :be of any desired form, but a particular and-useful forrnlis. that shown, which is rectangular with flail -"liirebeaterbars- 39 pivoted-at the. corners 48 of the heads and whose outer ends, asz'shown in Fig. .3, .extend to a point parallel with the lower edge or" the stalk-gathering members 1.331'331 The shaitstl 'and 3| will berotated at relativelyhighspeed; from 1280 R. P; M. to even higher speeds. s

Having reference togFig. 2,. there are two sets of vertical angle iron supports connected -with the? fram.e i'nembers l8 and l 5. Supports 4t and 42 are connected with transverse frame members i Q- and; support the front part of -thechutes .33 and 33'. supportsat and lfizarecon-nectedwith transverse member l l and support therea'r part oi thechutes .1331. and Zithpractically at theside edges'of the threats 32 and 3.2; .The chutes include forwardly and; outwardly flaring sideplates .redge is onithe: rearmost part of the plate. *verti'cal portion 50; shown in Fig. 4, has a bev- 4 45 and 46, and an upwardly flaring top plate 41 which produces an open-bottom chute having its narrowest part at 48.

In rear of the stalk-gathering members 33, 33 and secured to the respective supports 44 of each of the stalk-gathering members is a shear plate d9. Each of the shear plates 49 is composed of a vertical portion 58 and-a horizontal portion 5|. These portions are shown asanintegralrrhember, but they could, if desired, be made of two separate portions. The horizontal portion 5| has a bevelled cutting edge 52 on its lower surface which-'dgeextendsfrom the outer surface of the plate towards its inner surface so that the cutting The elled cutting edgefiswhich extends as a continuatlorl' of "thebev'elled surface 52 and is likewise on the inner surface of the plate adjacent the supporting member 44. Each of the shear plates lais held lu -pla ce a plurality ofbolts 55,-and

between each. ofi-theshear plates and the support 46; are spacingmembers 5 l-to space the shear.

plateoutwardly from the support. ,.The purpose of the shear plates i! is to provide-a shearing action on material which is driven -against the cutting edges .53 by the beaterbarsfiilt; 7

in operationas the structure is; moved relative to the ground, it is so disposed .that each of'the stalkegathering means 33; 33- wil-l extend along a row oi: stalks sothat as the machine progresses relative to a field,- the rows of stalks are. respec-v tively brought within-the chutes 32,32 wherein the-sta s are. bent forwardly. ."Ihe beater bars 39 rotating at a high speedin rear-oi the'stalk gatheringrnembers produce. a disintegrating action by first having their outer-ends engage the stalks adjacent-their. rootportions to beat or tear the stalks at the ground level. -.As many of-- the stalks ma begreen orof: tough fibrousmaterial, thebeater bars will cause the upper-portionsiof the stalks to be moved upwardly to-the left,as-indicated by. the arrows in Fig; .1, where the: inner portionsct the heater bars will ,cause the stalks to: be brought against th cuttingedgeS-l-SZ, 53} Inorder that agood cutting action be produced, a sufficient number ofspacers 54- are introduced between each -supporting member; Mea-nd the shear plates la so as to bring the-outer surface of the shear plates-in relatively'close, shearin relationship with;thelbeater harsets; v i The advantage andutility ,ot any. invention. is in providing. an improved means-pf disintegrating .vegetablestalks in: such-a manner as-to de-' stroythe entirety of thestalks; including the root portions as well as the. upper stalk portions including the leaves.v This is important because it is necessaryto; destroytheentirety of the 'stalk portion and particularly therlower stalk portion inorder to eliminate-a reas within which" -:pes.ts may remain over the winter seasonwandvfrom which a newtgenerationof pests can comein the i'ollewinggrowing season.

Aparticular advantagein the invention, is that the outer. extremity of each of the -beater bars contacts the stalks atthe ground level to destroy the=-lower portion-in-a beating action and in the cooperative relationship :oi the: "beaten bars and shear-plates which causes disintegrationiof :the remainder: of pthe stalk portions by the coopera ;ti-ve 'action of theinnerparts of. thegbeaterybars; The beater bars themselves are composed'ofqvery hardmeta-l so that :if obstructions such as stones pr the like are presentgon-the ground lthe length of the beater-bars plus theenormous centrifugal force developed by the entire driving connection is such that instead of injuring the beater bars, the. stone will be either broken or knocked out of the way. Thus it should be understood that two distinct actions are obtained from the beater bars. The first being the beatingaction of their outer ends, and the second being the shearing operation which occurs on their inner portions where they pass in cooperation relationship with the shear plates.

I claim:

1. In a device for disintegrating vegetable stalks, in combination, a stalk gathering tunnel formed of a top and side walls and having open front and rear ends, a driven member supported above the tunnel and projecting longitudinally beyond the rear end of the tunnel, a plurality of rectangular beater bars loosely pivoted at their inner ends to said driven member in rear of the tunnel for rotation in a plane transverse to the tunnel, and a shear plate carried on the rear end of the tunnel and having a beveled cutting edge projecting horizontally across the top and vertically along one side of the rear opening and forming a substantially 90 cutting surface which cooperates with the inner edges of the beater bars 7 for shearing material driven by said bars against the cutting edge.

2. In a device for distintegrating vegetable stalks, in combination, a stalk gathering tunnel formed of a top and side walls and having open front and rear ends, a driven member supported above the tunnel and projecting longitudinally beyond the rear end of the tunnel, a plurality of rectangular beater bars loosely pivoted at their inner ends to said driven member in rear of the tunnel for rotation in a plane transverse to the tunnel, and a shear plate carried on the rear end of the tunnel which commences on oneside of the tunnel and projects across the top of the tunnel the inner edge of said plate formed in a sharp bevel and forming a cutting surface which cooperates with the inner edges of the beater bars for shearing material driven by said bars against the cutting edge.

3. In a device for disintegrating vegetable stalks, in combination, astalk gathering tunnel formed of a top and side walls and having open front and rear ends, a driven member supported above the tunnel and projecting longitudinally beyond the rear end of the tunnel, a plurality of rectangular beater bars loosely pivoted at their inner ends to said driven member in rear of the tunnel for rotation in a plane transverse to the tunnel, and a vertical shear plate carried on the rear end of the tunnel at one side thereof, said shear plate having a relatively sharp beveled cutting edge which cooperates with the inner edges of the beater bars for shearing material driven by said bars against the cutting edge.

4. In a device for distintegrating vegetable stalks, in combination, a stalk gathering tunnel formed of a top and side walls and having open front and rear ends, a driven shaft supported above the tunnel and projecting longitudinally beyond the rear end of the tunnel, a pair of plates secured to said shaft in rear of the tunnel, a plurality of linear beater bars loosely pivotedat their inner ends between said plates for rotation in a plane transverse to the tunnel, and a shear plate carried on the rear end of the tunnel at one side thereof and having a beveled cutting edge which projects vertically up one side of the tunnel and horizontally across the top of the tunnel to form a substantially cutting surface at one corner of the top of the tunnel, said cutting edge cooperating with the inner edges of the beater bars for shearing material driven by said bars against the cutting edge.

5. In a device for disintegrating vegetable stalks, in combination, a stalk gathering tunnel formed of a top and side walls and having open front and rear ends, a driven shaft supported above the tunnel and projecting longitudinally beyond the rear end of the tunnel, a pair of rectangular plates mounted in spaced relation to each other on the shaft in rear of the tunnel, a plurality of rectangular beater bars each loosely pivoted at its inner end between said plates and at the corners of said plates for rotation in a plane transverse with the rear of the tunnel, said bars being of a length that their outer ends are adapted to strike stalks gathered by the tunnel at substantially the ground level, and an angularly shaped plate mounted on the rear end of the tunnel, said plate having a beveled shearing surface formed on its inner angular edge which cooperates with the inner edges of the beater bars for' shearing material when the latter is driven against either of the beveled edges by the beater bars.

LEVI HAAPALA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 657,411 Hamm Sept. 4, 1900 1,698,724 Johnston et a1. Jan. 15, 1929 2,221,593 Lessmann Nov. 12, 1940 2,479,510 Pollard et a1 Aug. 16, 1949 OTHER REFERENCES Farm Implement News Magazine, issue of J anuary 15, 1948, page 16, Humboldt Stalk Cutter advertisement. 

